Tag Archives: Hallmark

Jaws Collectibles

We wrap our series on Jaws collectibles with a look at more recent and current movie memorabilia. Many collectors don’t simply focus on vintage and antique, but rather on a film or character and there are many companies producing high quality merchandise from classic characters. Jaws is no exception and the 40th Anniversary has led to a bit of a boom in modern Jaws collectibles.

Hallmark Christmas Ornament

Hallmark has gotten into the movie monster business with a dedicated line of movie monster Christmas ornaments. While some may have doubts about hanging Frankenstein Monster or this Jaws ornament on their Christmas tree, the high quality sculpts and reasonable price point have made these part of many collectors’ year-round displays rather than December holiday fare.

This ornament was released in 2014 along with several other movie monster ornaments and is marked with ‘2014’ on the ornament.

Press the button on the ornament to hear the heart-pounding theme music from this iconic film.

Batteries included.

2.61″ W x 2.3″ H x 5.67″ D

MSRP $17.95

While you can probably find this ornament on clearance at a local Hallmark shop if you look hard enough, the keepsake ornaments are produced in a given year and then discontinued, building collectibility into their business model.

As a result, most current listings for this ornament on eBay and Amazon are in the $40-$50 range.

McFarlane Toys Deluxe Box Set

McFarlane Toys is manufacturing arm of artist Todd McFarlane‘s empire and is known for extremely detailed sculpts on his action figures and models. Here’s a nice quick video review of the Jaws diorama to give you more detail on this collectible:

Released as part of the Movie Maniacs Set 4 Collection, this diorama has incredible detail and even includes a Quint action figure that comes apart in the middle for total realism.

Released October 2001

Scale: 6-inch

MSRP: $29.99

This box set has really appreciated in price with current listings in the $300+ range.

Sideshow Maquette

Sideshow Collectibles never takes short-cuts on the sculpts for their maquettes and their Jaws statue is no exception. I’ll refer you to this comprehensive review over at MWCToys.com since I don’t actually own this maquette myself.

No current listings on eBay though the average price for recent auctions had been $500.

Funko ReAction Action Figures

Funko’s retro-style ReAction line is a bit friendlier on the pocketbook and is just hitting the shelves this month. The Jaws line contains Amity’s local police chief Martin Brody, professional shark hunter Quint, and Matt Hooper, a marine biologist. You’ll also find a super-sized figure of Bruce the Great White Shark:

Perhaps the most collectible of the lot is this gory 2015 San Diego Comic Con Exclusive of Bruce the Shark making a meal out of Quint:

Finally, check this out:

40th Anniversary Jaws Edition Yahtzee Game

Click the link to see this Yahtzee set at Entertainment Earth and a whole lot more modern Jawsmemorabilia, many items commemorating the 40th Anniversary of the film.

Summary

40 years ago, Jaws broke box-office records and became the first summer blockbuster. In a similar fashion, Jaws became the prototype for product licensing. I remember shark merchandise being everywhere in the mid-70s. The legacy of this film and the strength of its fanbase are evident given the amount of new licensed products that continue to be released around the 40th Anniversary of this movie. Jaws collectibles are as varied in price and quality as any classic monster. While the Universal Monsters have a 40 yearned start on Bruce the shark, I’m impressed with the diversity and range of collectibles for this film.

For a really deep dive into the world of Jaws collecting, I recommend you visit JawsCollector.com a site that focuses specifically on, well, Jaws collectibles.

Collecting the Rondo Awards 2015 Best Toy Category – Part 5

Frankenstein Christmas Ornament by Hallmark

Happy Frankenstein Friday all you Classic Monster Collectors! This is the fifth installment in my review of the 2015 Rondo Awards Best Toy / Model / Collectible category nominees.

Today, we’ll take a look at a rather curious item, the Frankenstein’s Monster Christmas Ornament from Hallmark.

What makes today’s nominee curious is simply the combination of the character, the Frankenstein Monster, with the product category, a Christmas ornament.

In previous installments of this series, we’ve reviewed the 2015 winner, the Creature action figure, as well as some beautiful (but expensive) maquettes for Lily Munster and Forry Ackerman. Action figures and maquettes are highly collectible and I have a good deal of experience in both of these categories.

When it came time to prepare for this article, however, I was left staring at the page simply because collecting Christmas ornaments is outside my range of experience. Who is the collector of this type of figure. A Frankenstein completist would certainly want this. I can even see a Universal Monsters collector having this. But what about Christmas ornament collectors? Do people specifically collect character ornaments? Do these items appreciate in value? In my experience, I’ve learned that there are collectors for just about everything ever made, so

My family celebrates Christmas with gusto. My wife and kids and I love the annual tradition of selecting our white pine and decorating it with the multitude of ornaments we’ve collected over the years. You heard right, ornaments we’ve collected. Growing up, my siblings and I always got a Christmas ornament for Christmas.

At some point, probably the early 1980s, these ornaments became pop culture characters and were dated with the year. I have a Darth Vader, X-Wing Fighter, Incredible Hulk and many others that represent whatever I was interested in at the time. While we don’t display these ornaments year-round like I do other collectibles, these ornaments are an important part of our annual holiday tradition. Each Christmas, I unpack and hang these ornaments from my youth with my children. Many of these ornaments are stored in their original boxes with date marked on them.

Without even realizing it, I am a Christmas ornament collector.

Specs

MSRP $14.95

2.23″ W x 4.76″ H x 2.28″ D

Here’s a great video review of the 2014 “Hallmark Horror” Collection from Cannibal Reviews. The Frankenstein ornament is reviewed first, but it’s worth watching the whole video as the other ornaments are of interest to classic monster collectors as well:

Clearly Hallmark is targeting the collector market by dating each of their ornaments and encouraging a “gotta have this year’s” mentality. Because these items are limited in their production, they may actually see some appreciation over time.

My research for the “Where to buy’ section below already reflects the reseller inflation on sites like eBay where this item is listed in the $25 range. Given that this is a seasonal item and was released just last year, however, means there are plenty of these on clearance this time of year. I found it for 50% of MSRP on Hallmarks’ website (link included below) and plenty of deals to be found on ebay and Amazon (links below).

One of the most attractive aspects of this item is the combination of the high-quality sculpt and paint with a very budget-friendly price point. This would look great as part of a larger Frankenstein -themed collection, but I’m also intrigued with the idea of a shelf of genre character ornaments as it’s own sub-category of my broader collection given the quality and range of Hallmark’s offerings. I’ll be keeping an eye out for their 2015 holiday collection and be sure to update you on any items of interest to classic monster collectors!

Amazon

Summary

Just because an item is sold as a Christmas ornament, doesn’t mean it has to be packed away in storage 11 months out of the year.

Hallmark is creating a genre-fan’s smorgasbord of ornaments worth the attention of classic monster collectors.

I think we might start a new tradition this Halloween — a Halloween tree complete with monster and character ornaments! At first, I thought this was going to be a very short profile of this item because I didn’t really know what I was going to write. That’s the beauty of writing – and collecting — you never know what you’ve been missing and, if you’re open to it, you just might stumble on to a new favorite.

Love to hear from you guys out there — are ornaments part of your classic monster collection? How do you display them?